[Pez]

Aero was the product that opened the doors for Hapa Audio. Being the first product on the planet to utilize Aerogel as a dielectric, Aero digital showed the world who Hapa Audio is and the reviews from actual clients speak for themselves.

The folks right here on AC have been clamoring about aerogel cables. With the introduction of Haiku RCA/XLR I showed what Aerogel can do for analog cables. But bluntly, the amount of labor involved and the materials made Haiku just outside of most audiophile’s budget.

I have put a ton of R&D into lowering the labor involvement on ALL Aerogel Nano-polished products in order to make it easier for me to make and less expensive for my clients. It is this research that has lead to, what I believe to be, the most exciting and important product Hapa Audio has released to date.

Introducing Aero RCA

I am happy to introduce the long awaited Aero RCA!

Aero RCA is the end result of years of design and research insanity. With Aero RCA I have managed to eliminate all unnecessary materials, and more importantly, drastically reduced the amount of labor involved. Whereas Haiku RCA/XLR requires no less than a week and a half to manufacture a 1 meter pair, hand making Aero RCA can be accomplished in a day.

Absolutely no compromises
With a more rapid build process, it would seem to follow that I am using lower quality parts, or reducing the quality control of my process. Nothing could be further from the truth. Aero RCA utilizes the same nano-polish level of refinement and the exact same UPOCC that Haiku RCA uses.

Construction
Aero RCA consists of a quasi coaxial design language borrowed from my Ember lineup. The center conductor is a solid core UPOCC 20 gauge analog core, polished in house to a surface quality that is 120 nanometer scale, eliminating surface oxidation and aberrations caused by the wire drawing process. This proprietary technique yields a sonic performance that is second to none.

The analog core conductor is then housed in an Aerogel layer held in place by a teflon tube. Exterior to that, I utilized the exact same braided copper litz shielding array that I designed for Ember. Finally, the braided litz shield is bolstered by a non-metallic pearlescent Mylar exterior. This shield renders Aero RCA to be the quietest and most revealing design to date.

Options
Because I have developed a quicker method of nano-polishing, I have made it easy to apply this polish to any material and it makes no effect on the amount of time in on labor.

Aero RCA will come in two flavors:

Aero Copper RCA

Aero Copper RCA utilizes a nano-polished copper core and will come with KLE-I Absolute Harmony connectors standard. It will have a white pearl jacket.

Aero Silver RCA

Aero Silver RCA utilizes a nano-polished silver core and will come with set of ETI SilverLink pure silver pin connectors standard. It will have a black pearl jacket.

How does it sound?
I designed Aero RCA to replace my Quiescence line which is now discontinued. And to that ends, Aero RCA offers an incredible improvement to sound quality. However, what soon became apparent in my subjective testing is that Aero RCA BESTED Haiku RCA and XLR. And not by a small margin, Aero RCA offers a wide performance improvement over Haiku.

In fact- in my subjective testing I have found that even Aero Copper is more detailed and refined than Haiku.  

Aero Cu RCA has similar tonal balance to Ember, slightly warm and robust. That said, Aero Cu not only drastically surpasses Ember in accuracy and detail, it also surpasses Haiku RCA in these categories.

Aero Ag RCA can best be described as dead center neutral.  Incredibly detailed, very dimensional and astonishingly dynamic and also offers a substantial sound quality improvement over Haiku.

Either option is awesome. Some folks with solid state amps and want a bit of warmth should opt for Aero Cu RCA, those with a warm sounding tube system might opt for Aero Ag RCA. It is entirely feasible that you might benefit from mixing and matching. But if you want to know for sure….

Tour?
Yes… Tour. Sign up to reserve your spot. I am planning on doing one tour leg, but if demand is high enough I can be convinced to do a second leg. I am asking that all tour participants post their thoughts on Aero RCA here on AC. The tour will be tight, it will consist of the following:
1 pair of Aero Cu RCA 1 meter
1 pair of Aero Cu RCA 1.5 meter
1 pair of Aero Ag RCA 1 meter
1 pair of Aero Ag RCA 1.5 meter

Again, to sign up please click and fill out the form.

Pricing
As stated before, the new Nano-polishing technique means I’m able to drastically reduce my labor, but it also means that when purchasing either Aero Cu or Ag, the only difference you are paying for is the parts cost. This means there is no ‘silver premium’ anymore.

This pricing will be the introductory price and will no longer be available after the tour is complete. Pricing applies to tour members AND all AC members. I am able to build any orders for Aero Cu RCA immediately. Aero Ag RCA I have in limited supply and will be accepting preorders for anyone who purchases when my limited supply runs out.

1 meter Aero Cu RCA - $1099 (down from $1199)
1.5 meter Aero Cu RCA - $1499 (down from $1599)
2 meter Aero Cu RCA - $1899 (down from $1999)

1 meter Aero Ag RCA - $1399 (down from $1499)
1.5 meter Aero Ag RCA - $1849 (down from $1949)
2 meter Aero Cu RCA - $2099 (down from $2249)

I have already seeded quite a few cables to my beta testers. I encourage them to chime in and give their thoughts on the new cables. I look forward to any questions and/or comments you all might have. Thanks for tuning in.

[Charles Xavier]

Signed up. Send them my way. Can't wait to compare to the Embers.

[dflee]

Patiently waiting.
And quite excited to hear them.

Don

[BobRex]

I’m also on the Empirical test list.  Might be an interesting comparison.
Maybe it’s time to convince the boss that my current cables are
Ummm “broken”. 

[MttBsh]

I’m on vacation in Italy. Being on this latest Hapa tour will make coming home a bit less painful

[nlitworld]

I smashed my fingers so hard hitting that submit button. Jason, your cables never cease to impress, so I'm really looking forward to how these compare.

[Nick B]

Looks good, Jason 👍👍  Would like to participate.

[Pez]

Tour is filling up VERY quick. We already have 9 participants. Let’s leave it open for a few more days, it might be that I need to make more sets for a second leg!
 
I just sent this care package off to our first victim. I have not emailed any of the participants so don’t sweat it, I had a volunteer to try out the cables and break them in a bit prior to the rest of the tour.

[mresseguie]

Tour??!  Did you say TOUR???

Ahem. I just returned home from Taiwan a few days ago, and haven’t even set up my audio system yet. If I say pretty please, could you squeeze me into your tour? 

P.S. You mentioned that someone has already heard these new cables. Was this unnamed person so impressed with your newest cables that he spontaneously placed an ad to sell his ’old’ Hapa Audio cables?

[Pez]

Tour crew,
I sent an email off to all participants. I am genuinely humbled by how quickly it filled up. On top of that, ALL participants who signed up are returning clients of Hapa Audio!  I hope that means I’m doing something right.

I am ok with having a few more folks sign up if they’re interested, or if you’d rather wait to see what the buzz is, I’ll leave the form open during the tour. 

[WGH]

Hi Guys,

I'm listening to both pairs of the Aero Cu right now. DAC to preamp and preamp to amp. Sorry, no comments yet.

Pez wrote to the tour crew: "Wayne in AZ has agreed to break in the cables"

It's a nasty job but somebody has to do it. Luckily I have a Hagerman FryKleaner to speed up the process. I'll let the Aero Ag cook in Current Mode for a few days while I listen to the Cu, then the Cu will go into the FryKleaner.


The FryKleaner description:

"Cables are best burned-in directly; separate from your sound system. Connect a pair of cables from the positive outputs to the inverted outputs to differentially drive the cables with current similar to a direct short. This method proves to be much more effective than when in the system.

"Cables can be burned-in using either voltage or current. Voltage mode is achieved by leaving one end of the cable disconnected. This is often a rather ineffective method, because without a current draw the magnetic properties of the conductors are not exercised. Shorting one end of the cable will generate a current flow and force the voltage to zero. The FryKleaner’s maximum output signal level of +10dBu (2.5V) produces 25mA through the cable, far greater than experienced under normal audio use."
https://audioxpress.com/assets/upload/files/304hagerman2264.pdf


I found my RCA connectors so I can burn-in 2 pairs at once.




Wayne

[Pez]

Wayne,
Much appreciated on you taking on break in. Looks like a pretty nice basic rig for RCA cable burn in. I like it.

I am surprised how often I’m asked about break in. Generally speaking, most of my cables take around 100 hours to be 95% broken in. I offer the option for my clients to have me break their cable in using my combo of Audiodharma anniversary cable cooker or the Hagtech cable cooker. I will cook them in for clients for 72 hours. Any more than this does not appear to push the process any further. After the 72 hours there is still a break in process for the end user. This can be variable depending on system, whether the cable is being run constantly etc. 

Subjectively, my experience with the new cables is that they break in really quickly and the process is pain free. The copper version especially appears to be quick to beauty. I couldn’t believe how great it sounded after about 2 hours of break in. The silver version can take a bit longer, but it sounds superb within a day worth of music.

As such, I don’t actually recommend clients use my break in services for the new Aero RCA cables. if you want quicker delivery then just go for none and I can build the cable and get it in the mail the same day in most cases (assuming no backlog) If you still want burn in, no problem, just let me know. No extra cost or complication on my end so none is assessed to you.

On another note, I made up a couple of sets of the new cables for my photographer. I’ll have the new pics maybe next week? This new design is so nice, the basic photos I took don’t do it justice. I’ll be updating the website with the new cables and improved photos on some products in the near future. Also, I could do a mini tour using these sets and maybe something to tag along? If anyone has any other products they’d like to hear, let me know and maybe we could put something together. 

[golfugh]

Well, just thought I’d interject some information, hopefully useful.

I’m running a full loom of his cables in my 2 channel setup.  It started with the AeroAg USB, then I added an Ember RCA from Oppo to Pre.  I added his Torsion speaker cables in the midst of all the other cable changes and then recently added a set of embers from pre to amp.

I’ve had the opportunity to test the new AeoAg and Cu…I’m currently using AeroCu from Source to DAC and Pre to amp.  It all began when I contacted Jason about possibly ordering a balanced cable from Oppo to Pre and he mentioned you’ve got to try this first…well being the sucker I am I said yes!  Jason’s never done me wrong so why not!  The voice in the back of my mind (my wife) said I knew it, “whatever go ahead” (true story, she knows I’m crazy).

Initially he sent me both an AeroAg and Cu to try.  I inserted them source to DAC and sat back to wait for Mr Toads wild ride of wild and wooly breakin.  BTW, these cables had no time.  So, it was wild for almost 10 minutes then magic happened.  From my notes:

Big sound…chills to start
Clean/tight
Oh my WTF
Holy crap detail to die for

After a few hours I tried the Cu:

Wow same detail, but ever so slightly warmer
No loss of detail
Silent/Smooth
Way cool
Sounds like silver w/copper warmth and no loss of detail
Holy S…

Well those were quick notes taken over several hours.  The music I listened to was a mix of female vocals, instrumental and well my favorite to assess cables and systems Haevn.

So, I have all Aero cables throughout my 2 channel system.  I never planned on it, it just kind of happened.  But I have no regrets!

All I can say is Jason’s cables are literally the best cables  I’ve used and owned (across the board) but the new Aero Cu and Ag exceed everything Jason has done!  They’re that good IMO.

Thanks Mark

[WGH]

Oh boy, that was ugly. I was listening to Peter Gabriel’s new album “i/o” and wondered what “Four Kinds of Horses” (track #5) would sound like using JRiver Media Player. I usually use HQPlayer and upsample all music to DSD256. In comparison, JRiver had less depth, wasn’t as smooth and had less bass. Overall kind of grating. I stayed with DSD256 while reviewing the latest Hapa Aero Cu and Ag RCA cables.

This is the fifth time I’m reviewing Hapa Cables, I sort of know what to expect. All of Jason’s cables have a wide, deep soundstage with excellent tonality. The cables have holographic imaging, a clear, clean detailed sound without a hint of sharpness and will accurately reproduce the sound of the electronics and software upstream, like the difference between HQPlayer’s DSD and JRiver playing PCM.

My system has remained the same throughout the five reviews, the only change is the REL G2 sub has been replaced with a REL G1 MkII sub, bass now goes down to 15 Hz.


Music used for the Hapa cable review:




Hapa Silver RCA

The new nano polished silver RCA eliminates the minuscule hint of grain heard in the original Quiescence Silver but retains the same neutral sound. The highs go beyond human hearing and are super clear, cymbals shimmer, hang in the air and decay naturally. No warmth here, if you like your sound as true to the source as possible these are the cables for you.


Hapa Copper RCA

These cables are interesting, they are definitely warmer sounding than the silver. The details and highs are still present but mellowed out, like moving from the front row to mid-hall. While the silver is exciting the copper is a cable you can sink into the music and relax. The copper is also quieter than the silver, not in background noise but loudness. The difference in loudness is quite noticeable when switching cables. The guys in our audio club even mentioned the difference after I switched cables. I can turn off the amp, switch cables and turn on the amp without touching the volume knob. This is a feature, not a bug, perfect if your preamp has too much gain or the preamp sounds better when the volume knob is between 9:00 and 12:00. The copper RCA is the cable to have when your goal is to listen to music all day, every day without fatigue.


The New Hapa Bass

A major increase in bass energy was obvious with both cables. Not necessarily mid-bass but lower, these cables don’t constrict low energy at all, the nano polishing allows the low bass to flow without any attenuation. At first I thought the extra bass was part of the break-in process but it remained with both the silver and copper.

The REL G1 MkII sub has a remote control and digital display, the volume is set to 19 dB, the crossover is at 34 Hz, about where the Salk HT2-TL speakers start rolling off in my room. The 19 dB setting is perfect with the Hapa Quiescence Silver and Quiescence Gold-Silver RCA cables I bought. Bass is subtle unless the music actually has low bass below 34 Hz.

The Hapa Copper and Silver rocked the house. Yes, too much bass but fun none the less. I left the bass at 19 dB to get a handle on what was going on. The Tucson Audiophile Club came by on Saturday, both cables were well broken in by then with over 100 hours on each cable. Of course I left the REL volume set at 19 dB. Everyone complained there was too much bass, the house was pressurized. All the members have a sub or two but none can do what a REL MkII does. I blew off their complaints… for a while.

Then I got reasonable and used the remote to lower the REL’s volume. The sub’s volume was lowered to 9 dB which now blended seamlessly with the Salk speakers. Over the next couple of days I substituted a Quiescence cable for one of the new cables and figured out each of the nano polished Hapa cables increased the low bass by 5 dB. It will be interesting  to hear if any of the other reviewers on the tour hear an increase in deep bass. The increase may only be noticeable if the speakers are capable of a flat frequency response to 15 Hz.


Mixing and Matching

I’m used to the sound of the Quiescence Silver and Gold-Silver combo. I bought the Gold-Silver because two Quiescence Silver cables were a little too much of a good thing. The Salk HT2-TL speakers are close to a studio speaker in sound, upstream electronics are important or the speakers can edge toward analytical. The Gold-Silver took the edge off without diminishing the highs.

The new Hapa Silver RCAs were also a little too much of a good thing. After comparing the copper and silver, one of the guys in our club said the horn overtones were much better with the copper cables. The group’s consensus was the copper sounded better in my system.

Yes, the copper had a more comfortable sound but I missed the jump factor of the silver. The solution was obvious, I put the copper RCA between the DAC and preamp and the silver RCA between the preamp and amp. I now had the best of both worlds. Copper’s tonality with the Siver’s jump factor and sparkling highs. Why not the other way around? Because the preamp/amp is also used for home theater and the silver RCAs sound best with movies.

 
Conclusion

The latest Hapa Copper and Silver RCA interconnects are the best I have heard in my system. I was sad when I had to send them off to the next reviewer. (I hope I sent the right cables) 
The original Quiescence Silver and Gold-Silver are no slouches, those two cables together are about 95% of what I hear with Hapa’s latest cables. Turning up the REL’s volume a dB or two even matches what I hear when Jason’s latest RCA’s are plugged in. Give these cables a listen if you can, it is an ear opening experience.

Wayne

[Pez]

Golfugh- I appreciate your review and thoughts! I knew when I sent you the Copper Aero RCA that they had found their new home. I think they are a solid choice for folks with solid state neutral gear. 

WGH,
Thanks for kicking off the tour! I appreciate your thoughts on the new cables. There really is a depth plunging bass response to them. I heard the same thing in my setup. Folks with a tunable bass setup will likely want to fiddle with their settings a bit to get the most out of it. 

I’m really excited to see the tour kicking off with such strong positive feedback! I’m looking forward to some more responses from folks that were given a preview of the new cables soon. (Nudge nudge…)

[WGH]

I listen to well recorded, sonically challenging and fun music to evaluate and discern the sometimes small differences between cables. I like free too, here are a couple of suggestions:


David Cheskey's The Audiophile Society 2023 Music Sampler is a free 12 track hi-res download.
The 12 WAV tracks are 24bit/192kHz. Many of the tracks have big bass, perfect to hear the extended lows of the Hapa Aero RCA. An email address is required but I only get one email a year from The Audiophile Society so it's a spam free download.
A++++ sound quality

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=186325.msg1953186#msg1953186



Gounod Faust/Bizet Carmen Suite with Alexander Gibson conducting the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, 1960

I played "Funeral March Of A Marionette" at last Saturday's Hapa cable demo. This track is one of the most dynamic recordings ever made. Some will remember the Funeral March as the opening theme song to the 1955 anthology series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."
"Funeral March Of A Marionette" is a free download from Positive Feedback online magazine,
https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/music-reviews/what-we-hear-with-dxd-32-bit-files/


The free track is available in 4 different bit depths, but because the files are either 352.8 kHz or DSD256 many will have to convert to 44.1 kHz or 96 kHz.
All four files come from the 32-bit PCM master file. Bob's process was to transfer the 15ips tape using DSD256 via a Merging Hapi Analog to Digital Converter. This DSD256 file was post-processed on the Pyramix Workstation in a DXD project at 32-bit 352.8kHz. The resulting PCM edit master was then transferred/converted/rendered in Pyramix Album Publishing to 32-bit and 24-bit 352.8kHz files and to a DSD256 file.


The entire album is available from High Definition Tape Transfer in 7 formats starting at 16 bit/44.1 kHz ($10) up to DSD256 ($26).
https://www.highdeftapetransfers.ca/products/gounod-bizet-alexander-gibson-royal-opera-house-orchestra-1?variant=44403594854620

Gounod Faust/Bizet Carmen Suite with Alexander Gibson conducting the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, 1960



This superb recording, produced by Decca engineers in partnership with RCA, features Alexander Gibson and the Covent Gardens Royal Opera House Orchestra. The sound quality is exceptional and unparalleled.

Artist(s): Conductor – Alexander Gibson
Orchestra – Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden
Recording Info: Producers: Ray Minshull - Michael Williamson
Engineer: Kenneth Wilkinson
Faust Recorded 12-13 Feb 1959
Carmen Suite 7 Apr 1959 at Kingsway Hall by Decca/RCA
Sourced from a 15ips 2-track tape
Analog: Transferred using a modified Studer 810 tape deck feeding a Merrill Tape Preamp
Digital: Merging Hapi Analog to Digital Converter clocked by an Antelope Audio 10MX Atomic Clock
Power Conditioning: Shunyata Research Everest 8000 for analog components
Shunyata Research Triton and Typhon for digital componets
All components grounded to Shunyata ALTAIRA Hubs

A+++++ sound quality


Plenty of free tools are available to convert high-res to 16 bit/44.1 kHz (or 96 kHz) for audiophiles who can only play Redbook recordings.


Wayne